Harry Sinden moves into new role

Harry Sinden, who began with the Bruins organization in 1961, will move into a role as Senior Advisor to club Owner Jeremy Jacobs.

Boston Bruins legend Harry Sinden announced today that he is stepping down from his position as President of the team and moving into a role as Senior Advisor to club Owner Jeremy Jacobs. Sinden will remain as an Alternate Governor for the Bruins on the NHL’s Board of Governors.

"The timing is right to make this transition at this time, as I have been moving away from the day-to-day operations of the team and the building in recent years into more of an advisory capacity,” said Sinden. “We have strong and capable leadership in place throughout the organization, beginning with Peter Chiarelli, who is in charge of all aspects of the hockey operations. With Peter now settled in Boston, I initiated discussions with Mr. Jacobs on changing my focus and he agreed with me that this is the right time to formalize the direction in which we have been moving for some time.”

Jeremy Jacobs, Owner of the Boston Bruins and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North Companies said, “Harry is not only a close friend but is an inspirational leader and certainly a legend in the world of hockey. I am honored that he has agreed to continue as an important advisor to this team.”

The team has decided not to replace the president role at this time, and has aligned all hockey operations, decisions and strategy under new General Manager, Peter Chiarelli.

Sinden has been an integral part of the Bruins for over 40 years, starting in the organization in the early 1960s as a player-coach at the minor league level and progressing as a head coach in Boston, as the team's General Manager for 28 seasons and as President of the team for the past 17 seasons. As a coach and General Manager, he has been part of a Bruins Stanley Cup championship, six Conference titles and ten Division championships and his Boston teams combined for 29 winning seasons. With a 7-4 Boston win at St. Louis on October 17, 1995, he became the first general manager in the history of the NHL to record 1,000 victories and his all-time record as a GM stands at 1170-763-301 for a .591 winning percentage.

Sinden has also been a key member of many league committees, which bring policy and rule recommendations to the NHL's Board of Governors. The esteem in which he is held in the hockey world was evidenced by his 1983 induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as he became the 23rd Bruin enshrined and only the fourth to enter in the Builder's category. In 1997, he was selected as one of the 30 inaugural inductees into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was honored with the league's Lester Patrick Award acknowledging his "outstanding service to hockey in the United States" and he is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He began with the Bruins organization in 1961 as a player-coach in Kingston, Ontario. Following a coaching stint in Minneapolis, he became a player-coach in Oklahoma City and in 1965-66 led that club to the CHL championship with eight consecutive victories. He moved to Boston to assume the Bruins head coaching position in 1966-67 and a year later, he led the team into the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. His four-year career behind the Boston bench reached the pinnacle in 1969-70 with the club's first Stanley Cup in 29 years.

Following a two-year stint in private business, Sinden returned to hockey in 1972 when he was asked to coach Team Canada in the classic series between NHL players and the Soviet Union. In recording one of Canada's supreme sporting triumphs, the team overcame a 1-3-1 series deficit by taking three straight one-goal victories in Moscow. He returned to Boston at the conclusion of that series, becoming the fifth General Manager in Bruins history on October 5, 1972.